Thanks stepchid. Love the name. I liked you referring to the page in the BB TO REINFORCE the reason for doing these steps. It's comforting to me. A foremost goal for me is spiritual growth! Just reading there is more to come from others experience gives me something to hold on to and look forward to. As yet I still carry alot of anger. But truly grateful for the gift of desperation. And believing that GOD does for us what we couldn't do for ourselves.

Cherylv wrote: A foremost goal for me is spiritual growth! Just reading there is more to come from others experience gives me something to hold on to and look forward to. As yet I still carry alot of anger. But truly grateful for the gift of desperation. And believing that GOD does for us what we couldn't do for ourselves.

That's what those steps are for. And they work. You'll hear people throw around the line "progress not perfection" quite a bit.

The book simply says this....

The point is, that we are willing to grow along spiritual lines. The principles we have set down are guides to progress. We claim spiritual progress rather than spiritual perfection.pg 60

Spirit Flower wrote: I have done several 5th steps but don't say its mandatory.

It's not mandatory?? Quite the opposite. The literature clearly states this about Step 5:

Some people are unable to stay sober at all [when they bypass Step 5]; others will relapse periodically until they really clean house...Hence it was most evident that a solitary self-appraisal, and the admission of our defects based upon that alone, wouldn’t be nearly enough. We’d have to have outside help if we were surely to know and admit the truth about ourselves...it was only when we resolutely tackled Step Five that we inwardly knew we’d be able to receive forgiveness and give it, too...Somehow, being alone with God doesn’t seem as embarrassing as facing up to another person. Until we actually sit down and talk aloud about what we have so long hidden, our willingness to clean house is still largely theoretical...The benefit of talking to another person is that we can get his direct comment and counsel on our situation...Going it alone in spiritual matters is dangerous. ~12 & 12, Step 5

I think this is a slight mistake in communication, in this case Spirit Flower was speaking about the topic under discussion, where some believe in doing the 5th step more than once, and others disagree. So she is saying she did it more than once, but that's not mandatory, it's also not what the book suggests.

"Good morning, this is your Higher Power speaking. I will not be needing your help today."

"Although all inventories are alike in principle, the time factor does distinguish one from another. There's the spot-check inventory, taken at any time of the day, whenever we find ourselves getting tangled up. There's the one wetake at day's end, when we review the happenings of the hours just past. Here we cast up a balance sheet, crediting ourselves with things well done, and chalking up debits where due. Then there are those occasions when alone, or in the company of our sponsor or spiritual adviser, we make a careful review of our progress since the last time. Many A.A.'s go in for annual or semiannual housecleanings. Many of us also like the experience of an occasional retreat from the outside world where we can quiet down for an undisturbed day or so of self-overhaul and meditation."